Couldn't agree more... this channel has the clearest, most understandable, and most effective teaching that I've ever seen. I just feel happy and confident every time I watch a video. Keep it up guys, you're doing amazing!
Very good instructions! Keep it simple, always remember that the ball movement consists of two components: horizontal and vertical. More horizontal power will give the drive/flat shot and more vertical power/"brushing up" will generate more top spin.
I've said this already and I'll say it again, this content is absolute 🔥🔥🔥🔥 The production here is phenomenal. The sound quality alone is ridiculous and better than you get at actual tournaments.
I’ve played tennis since 11, high school an university. Seen a lot of ‘professional’ coaches of the top 10 ATP and your explanation is one of THE best out there.
Ey, Justin from SD here. Miss calling you dudes and talking tennis! Glad to see you're still putting out quality content-- with a much bigger audience from the looks of that subscriber count!
Awesome video, to me it made a huge and instant difference on my FH the first time I try it on court, and the following times have allow me to have a more reliable and consistent mechanics on my FH. I have never hear about the horizontal shoulder abduction explain at 6:39 that way and the drills are simple and effective. Thanks a lot!!!
@@RacquetFlex I struggle with the different types of volleys, ironically taking pace away and low volleys I can do, but punch volleys specially high volleys I find them difficult, a video on how to handle different types of volleys will be awesome. thx!
Thanks for fixing my shot, tried it today and worked like a charm. Well explained, couldnt figure out the same motion pretty much but with a slight spin changed the trajectory, i was muscling up each, picked the ball up in the front with a bit of hesistence but man, what power and direction. Love this!
Best and more detailed technique video ever. The explanations are clear, precise and well presented. Video quality is also perfect 🫡 Keep doing this great job guys! +1 follower 🤭
Great instruction and helpful tips, for a fellow that has a fairly flat game developed in the 70s and 80s. I particularly like the biomechanics discussed In the execution of a proper stroke. This has helped me develop a modern topspin forehand.
Great stuff guys. Any chance you could do a backhand weight transfer video? I feel it’s a topic that isn’t touched on too much, and I have this problem of stiff arms out to the side and also shifting weight onto the front foot too much… thanks for consideration 👍🏼 and all the great content of course
First off. Don’t go in with expectations of heavy spin on 1 hander. Work on proper technique, balance, driving racket through the stroke. If and when you’ve already stabilized this, then it’s a lot of pronations(or supinations)for heavy spin. Be sure to keep an L shape between racket and forearm with a firm wrist. Prep early , initiate swing, drop racket low and lead swing with the buttcap, at contact try to have a straight firm arm, also supinate your forearm at contact to get over the ball, then let the momentum carry to supinate the R shoulder, try to finish stroke with forearm open and buttcap facing upwards. One common mistake to avoid is leading the 1 hand BH with a bent elbow. The 1 hander won’t hit its potential with such bend. At around contact point, the racquet should be forward of the elbow area for a full snap. If the elbow is in front, it’ll be dragging the racket , which won’t work. Just pay attention to your technique, and make adjustments as needed.
Really good video guys - especially the discussion about how, why & when to use heavy top vs. flatter, more attacking shots. However, I'm less a fan of the (IMO) overly technical discussion of the swing mechanics used to achieve top vs. flat/ penetrating shots. It's not that your observations are wrong; it's more that there's no mention of the 'throwing' motion that distinguishes modern vs. old-school/ traditional stroke mechanics and which allows all the 'easy power', spin & variety of shots from different contact points that's the hallmark of modern stroke mechanics vs. old school pendulum/ weight transfer mechanics that require precise timing, preparation & footwork & which have very real contact point limitations - especially up high. Everything that's consequential (all the overly technical machinations that you discuss re: internal shoulder rotation + pronation etc.) occurs very naturally if one utilizes a sidearm throwing motion on the FH, the overhand/ 3/4's throwing motion on a serve/ overhead and a frisbee whip/ throw motion on the one-handed BH. The problem w/ all the slow motion demonstrations/ analysis of exactly what happens to cause the lag and snap back of the racket head thru contact and the natural deceleration of the follow thru doesn't translate well (IMO) into how real people actually learn throw to a ball or frisbee; they just do it .. over and over until the throwing motion is ingrained. But more importantly, there are lots of tennis players that know how to throw a ball very well and naturally but who can't translate that ingrained throwing motion into proper modern tennis strokes. I know, because I was one of those guys that learned tennis the 'old school' way and ended up w/ 'pretty' traditional strokes but with all the limitations inherent with the use of old school strokes re: spin and the ability to generate power and/or spin off of slow balls and especially balls high in the strike zone. And, once learned, it was very hard form me to change even though I had inherently good throwing mechanics. For some reason, I always had a pretty good & natural 1 handed BH though it's not as whip like (think a much lesser Gasquet BH) as it is now. My serve was OK, but overly mechanical and way too much shoulder and not the simplified dynamic 3/4s throwing motion I now have & utilize. It's not that it's necessarily wrong to demonstrate in slow motion (or show via slow motion video) exactly what happens during a properly executed stroke it's just that one needs to emphasize to the student/ audience that a proper modern stroke requires 'throwing mechanics' vs. a shot put/ weight transfer mechanism or what we old school guys used to call 'throwing like a girl'. And it's not all about being able to throw faster and hit harder. It's more about efficiency and easy power, spin and much more variety on swing paths and heights and the ability to move and hit more dynamically and generate power and spin on the move and from different positions including when moving sideways or backwards etc. Think of a short stop snagging a grounder and being able to turn and fire the ball to 1st base from all sorts of positions. Slow or fast, the basic throwing mechanics are the same. Pitchers and tennis players warm up by 'throwing' slowly, but they still use the same basic throwing mechanics when they warm up by throwing/ hitting softly and ramp up the pace/ power and spin as they get warmed up, but using the same basic throwing mechanics but with varying levels of the dynamic release of energy from & after the wind-up thru the release/ contact point. Anyway - long story short - it took much longer than it should have to 'unlearn' my old school mechanics. Lots of shadow strokes in the living room was key for me along w/ just hitting on the wall so there was no match play pressure. Once I 'got it' it was like 'this is so much easier' what the heck was I doing all those years. But again it would have been helpful if someone would have emphasized to me the simplicity of just winding up and releasing the racket via a throwing motion.
@@gazzer92 in a word - yes. If you've ever played baseball or practiced same as a kid - just think back to the way you warmed up and then practiced snagging grounders and used various arm angles to throw or flip the ball to 1st or second base - including when moving and/or off balance and with varying speed depending on how far and fast you need to throw. Yes - your elbow moves back and your shoulder rotates and your forearm pronates and your wrist snaps, etc. - but no one thinks about all that; you just throw the ball to a target and your body/ brain figures out the best way to get it there effectively & efficiently. If you did/ do try to think about all the mechanics minutiae your throwing motion won't be dynamic at all and won't feel natural. Bottom line is that you are - in effect - throwing your racket at the ball but you hang onto the racket. You do manipulate the racket somewhat to get the racket head to strike the ball square and you can manipulate the swing path to impart spin & direction. A throwing motion permits a ton of variety in the swing path and racket head manipulation. There's a reason why good players make it look EASY ... it's because the throwing motion they are using to hit the ball makes it much easier to hit the ball with power/ spin and variety and to do so while moving, off-balance, moving forward, backwards or sideways and to hit balls from a huge range of contact points - high, low, out wide, in close etc. Those that teach tennis have made it seem much more rote & complicated than it is/ should be.
@JBC -3 really enjoyed ur analysis..funny about your comparison to a shortstop--i played it for all the years when i was young and because i was so quick-too quick to get the ball out of my glove and throw--i ended up trapping my elbow and and couldnt exterernally rotate the shoulder blade going back and then internally rotate shoulder going foward..my mechanics were awful and plagued me all my life(but who knew as a dumb kid)..now that im a newbe to tennis(havent even played yet)--these mechanics all make sense but at 64 its hard to unlearn lifelong bad habits..anyway something clicked after reading ur comments(ex.sidearm throw) and just want to thank you..i just wished i had taken up tennis as a youngster to learn all these mechanics--it would have prevented alot of overthrows and short-arms to 1st base..haa..thks again
Work on that muscle memory and technique that are unique to tennis. and once these traits are incorporated , loosen up and let the kinetics of a throwing motion apply to tennis. Especially on serve. I always thought serve was just a throwing motion. But translated to tennis, there’s lot of technique involved.
This is a super informative and very valuable lesson for anyone who is serious about improvement and is willing to put in the work in an intelligent manner. Thanks so much!! I love you guys!!
Another great video. I have used just about every grip and I notice that the full or semi-western is actually great for short hop balls of good or hard pace. This is because the rises fast and you want to get over the top of it with a close racket face otherwise it will go long. For normal low balls, you are right, the eastern grip has advantages cos the racket face is more open. So as in one of your older videos, I do the vertical swing path for these balls.
Hi ! Just a suggestion. I tried to reduce the speed of the video to 0.75 and it helped me to follow better your video ;) i dont know other's experience of course, but i would bet you can slow down a little bit :) thanks :)
Oh my god you guys are so good. How are you guys not on the atp tour. In pursuit of topspin, I have almost forgotten to flatten out my forehands. As a result, I’m getting my ass handed to me by pushers. Could you guys make a video on hitting a more consistent second serve but with some pace ?
No. Actually Nadal has a straight arm at contact (on those extremely heavy spin balls). Flattening a shot out comes from applying a more horizontal swingpath (in stead of the windshield wiper). With both you should still transfer weight through the ball and make your contact point as long as possible.
Another tip that has effective results , is to practice holding that lag as far as possible through contact. Then when in matches, loosen the arm, and let muscle memory take it from there.
Great video. I definitely fall into the too much spin category. I think i tend to a bent arm also which this combination gives me issues with both high balls, and producing flat drive. I seem to be struggling to get the shoulder movement you’re describing. Given this perhaps i should focus more on the Kyrios style for flat shots. Getting sick of opponents running down wide angle shots over and over until i hit it out.
For top spin you said hitting the ball in front. But shouldnt that be done for a flat shot aswell? I dont understand the difference in that aspect. Or is hitting in front just the requirement for top spin and for a flat shot you have to additionally do more of the shoulder rotation while top spin is more wind schield wiper motion?
